The term “email marketing sales funnel” might sound confusing, but in its purest sense it shares similarities with a funnel you might use for household tasks. Whether you’re trying to top off the oil in your car or refill the soap bottle, funnels help direct the flow so that it goes where you want it to go.
Sure, a funnel isn’t necessary for these types of jobs. If you have a steady hand, you can often pour things without making a mess. But it’s much less efficient without a funnel… and we’ve probably all had times where we thought we had things under control and then found ourselves mopping up a spill on the floor.
With email funnel marketing, you identify where you want your customer to go and then create a journey to help them reach it. Customer journeys are everywhere, whether we’re aware of it or not. You might see a 30-second teaser for a movie that won’t be coming out for another two years. That teaser creates awareness, which is then bolstered by a full trailer the following summer.
Then a social ad offering a presale discount for the movie catches your attention, leading you to buy tickets. At the theater on the big night, you and your friends pose for a photo in front of a large promotional display for the movie, which you then post on social.
Wow.
You went from watching that humble little teaser to becoming a social media advocate for the movie. That type of journey isn’t accidental, as the studio’s marketing team carefully guided you to buying tickets and ultimately posting about the movie on your Instagram account.
Your email marketing channel is all about growing your list of subscribers and then helping them become loyal customers. Funnel email marketing supports these goals, as it charts out the steps required to hit those objectives. It also provides clarity for your campaign tracking, as you’ll have a better understanding of the customer journey and how to nurture your leads.
The seven main stages within many email marketing funnel examples are:
Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Conversion
Retention
Expansion
Advocacy
This list will look familiar to you if you have experience with sales funnels within other areas of business, as the stages are similar and accomplish the same general objectives for your organization.
Up to this point, the focus of this article has been on what an email marketing sales funnel can do for you. But it’s important to note that your funnel should be equally dedicated to the user experience. Because if you’re not delivering relevant value in every email, you’re on your way to losing the recipient’s attention and trust.
Thankfully, B2B email marketing funnel strategies help you to personalize your messaging and speak to people where they are, not just where you want them to be. You can address their pain points and reward their motivations. Most importantly, you can show them that you recognize them as a whole person, not just a data point or dollar sign.
While the names of the various stages might vary within different email marketing funnel templates, the core process remains the same. Let’s break it down to learn more about the unique waypoints in the customer’s email journey.
As the initial touchpoint with a brand, this first email should offer a compelling look at your brand. Instead of trying to sell them something, you should be expressing your personality and showing how you offer unique value. What problems can you solve for them? What resources can you share?
Ideas include:
Free downloadable guide related to the recipient’s needs
Link to a relevant post on your blog
Helpful infographic that simplifies a commonly sought problem
By showing your value right out of the gate, you’ll start to build trust. And there are few things more powerful in business than that.
Don’t even think about unleashing a big sales promotion at this stage of the game. You’ve got to continue building trust by delivering more value. Perhaps you use a comparable approach to the first email, sharing some of your top-performing content. If you linked to a blog post before, consider a white paper or infographic. Other possibilities include a video tutorial, case study, or an e-book.
By focusing on the recipient’s pain points, you’ll increase the chances for good engagement. And this deepening of the relationship sets the stage for a conversion on the horizon.
Customers who remain in the funnel at this point typically have an understanding of your brand offerings and have chosen not to hit unsubscribe. This means that they’re keenly aware of the problem to which you are positioning yourself as a solution.
Remember that you’re not the only company out there. So this is your opportunity to differentiate yourself from the competition and proactively address any possible concerns from the recipient. Case studies are great options at this stage of the funnel, as are customer testimonials, webinars, or product demonstrations.
While personalization is important throughout the funnel, this is the point where it takes on a new level of significance. By leveraging the connection you’ve been building, you’ll showcase your dedication to treating prospects like real humans and to providing exceptional customer service.
Your hard work and careful nurturing are about to pay off! But to make sure you don’t get carried away with the selling aspect of these emails, remember two things:
Your promotional messaging should still be balanced with relevant messaging personalized to the recipient
Ensure the purchasing process is as streamlined and intuitive as possible
As long as your emails remain focused on the recipient and make them feel valued, you stand a great chance of nudging the customer into making a purchase.
Successful business leaders often view the conversion stage as a reset of the funnel. Sure, you’ve accomplished something impressive by nurturing the lead and inspiring them to buy something from you.
But holding onto the customer is where the real work begins. Did you know that it’s about five times cheaper to retain a customer than to attract a new one? This is your chance to get customers to more thoroughly adopt your product into their life and secure many happy returns on your efforts to connect with them.
As part of your educating efforts, let your customers know more about your offerings. Perhaps you follow up a recent transaction with an email sharing a complementary upsell. Or you share an exclusive discount that can be used on a new product you recently launched. You could even take your foot off the sales pedal for a moment to send them some helpful video tutorials to enhance their experience with your products.
The point is that this is your chance to expand your connection with the customer and become more irreplaceable in their lives. When done right, you’ll be able to stick close to them even as their lives evolve and new competitors come and go.
If you think your sales team is good at attracting new customers, just wait until you see how much good a motivated customer can do for you. It’s simply the power of peer endorsement. For example, hearing a friend say that they loved a movie will always be more impactful than just reading a promotional headline for that movie.
You can maximize this effect by making it frictionless for customers to spread the word about you. Maybe you send a post-transaction email inviting customers to write a review of your product. Or you could offer an incentive for those who refer friends to your brand.
Just as the general flow of an email marketing sales funnel is consistent across most industries and applications, there is a proven process for developing your funnel. Let’s take a look at the six key steps:
We’ve called out the importance of “relevance” and “personalization” many times in this guide, but they’re only possible when you know who you’re talking to. Click here to get strategies for learning more about your audience.
It’s also important to know where you want your people to go and the best way to get there. Draw upon your unique audience insights to create a journey that fulfills their needs and aligns with your goals.
You’ll create strong momentum for your campaigns by continually growing your lists and attracting new leads to your funnel. This should be an omnichannel effort, with your email efforts focused on sharing worthwhile content that compels people to sign up for more.
What are the purchases that are most relevant and rewarding for your audience? Steer them toward these products/services so they can get top-notch experience with your brand.
We’ve already emphasized the importance of retention within your funnel. This is your opportunity to list out the content, resources, products, and promotions that will fuel these long-term efforts.
Putting these six steps into action requires buy-in throughout your entire organization. Be sure to include key stakeholders from the beginning and then train your teams so that they can do their part to support the overall efforts.
Managing customer journeys through email marketing takes special tools. For example, you’ll need a data-friendly platform for programming drip campaigns, getting exceptional delivery support, and then tracking the real-time results.
Twilio SendGrid checks these boxes, with an award-winning email marketing solution that supports you every step of the way. From building signup forms to tracking individual user’s email engagement, our platform is designed to make your life easier.
